Molecular markers for the identification and assisted management of genetic resources for sugarcane breeding

Abstract

Molecular markers have added a powerful new dimension to germplasm characterization and to the breeding management of plant genetic resources. The present work on Saccharum complex members and other plant genetic resources commonly employed for sugarcane breeding, shows the efficacy of and supports the needs for including molecular descriptors in germplasm databases. An approach based on molecular descriptors has been established and employed to assist traditional methods in the selection of genetic resources for the Cuban sugarcane introgression programme, in the last two years. Our genotyping system is presented for two germplasm base collections of original forms and promising transgenic plants. The principles of molecular descriptor selection to guarantee the main requirements are discussed. A group of RFLPs reported elsewhere as characteristics for nuclear and cytoplasmic DNA and/or different taxa, were employed to separate groups of clones in each collection and to provide information for breeding or taxonomic purposes. The bands for single-clone identification were selected by Factor Analysis of Simple Correspondence (FAC) using the binary data revealed by RFLP enzyme-probe combinations, previously selected for their high polymorphism and good scorability. A combination of molecular techniques is employed to fulfil principles for descriptors when required.